The Shore Side Error
by Blue Remedy
Summary: Team Natsu gets an all-expense-paid trip to a beach resort, but will a major misunderstanding be Natsu and Lucy's undoing? One-shot.


One-shot. Hella.

* * *

A three day vacation full of sun and sand… They deserved it, Natsu decided. The client of their last mission was so grateful after all and had provided them with luxury hotel rooms. Not that Natsu really cared about the rooms, but it had made Lucy happy, so he was happy in turn.

"Natsu! Look at these beds!" Lucy cried happily, flopping onto the cushy mattress. Natsu laughed and poised himself to take a running start at the out a battle cry, he bounced onto the sheets next to Lucy. They smelled clean. Soft. Natsu and Lucy both let out contented, muffled sighs before promptly bursting into giggles.

Natsu quickly became aware of the slight blush that coated Lucy's cheeks from laughing and the way her eyes glittered as she peeked at him from behind a blanket mound. His heart beat picked up as the room fell silent.

"Natsu… I…" She mumbled softly. Natsu's ears perked up at her small noises.

"Eh?" What could she be...?

"Hiya!"

Natsu was promptly smacked with her pillow ambush. He never saw it coming. Lucy erupted into laughter, and he didn't even bother trying to hold back the small smile that was surfacing on his lips.

"Hey, you guys ready to go yet?"

They turned. It was Gray stepping through the threshold of the room. He smirked.

"Geez, Natsu, when I told you two to get a room this isn't what I meant."

"Gray!" Lucy shrieked, launching a pillow at his face. It fell to the floor harmlessly. Natsu scowled- Gray was a much bigger perv than he could ever be, surely.

"Sorry Lucy!" He laughed, waving his hands in front of himself in self defense. "And Natsu, get your ass in gear! Everyone's already down at the beach!"

Natsu would've said something snarky in return, but Gray had already backed out of the room, so he just growled instead.

"Oh, don't mope." Lucy said, kicking her legs up into the air in a carefree way, and Natsu's anger at Gray dissipated just watching her.

"Sure, sure." He mumbled, rolling off of the bed and stretching.

"I'm going to change, but I'll meet up with you later!" She said cheerfully. Natsu smiled, nodding. He had changed into his swimming trunks earlier when he'd been excited to swim- Oh right! They were going to swim!

Reenergized, Natsu bolted outside and onto the hot sand, hollering unintelligible words as he made his way towards his team.

Happy was floating around in the ocean on an inflatable tube, looking peaceful. Charle and Wendy were nowhere to be found, although Gray had taken to making intricate ice sculptures (the damn show-off)- while Erza lay sunbathing, which _would have _seemed peaceful if she hadn't had such a menacing short sword sticking out of the sand to hold her bag.

"Natsu, I left my sunscreen in the room. Will you get it for me?" She asked, or commanded, looking up at him from over her sunglasses. The boy shivered.

"Y-Yes, Erza!" He saluted. She smiled, and he took off towards the beach house again.

"Good! It should be in Lucy's bag!"

"Gotcha!" He called back, unenthused with having to runErza's errands.

Big mistake.

Natsu stepped into the unassuming room…

…To where Lucy was currently butt naked.

. Nothing Natsu couldn't handle- he'd walked in on her changing before. Besides, her back was to him; he could escape.

Ah, but he'd have to face Erza's wrath for not following orders. He didn't want to be gutted with a short sword/bag hanger.

But while he stood there, frozen, Natsu's thoughts drifted away from Erza and quickly to Lucy- moreover, her ass. God, it was like his eyes were glued onto those firm globes…

She hummed something, and Natsu regained his wits long enough to scoop up the sunscreen. He looked back up to Lucy, only to see her very, _very _slowly bend over to grab her bikini.

"Ack!" Slapping his hand over the biggest bloody nose of his life, Natsu's eyes widened as Lucy turned around.

She shrieked his name, desperately trying to cover herself while also trying to throw things at the boy.

"Natsu, you jerk! I can't believe you watched me undress!" She lobbed a lamp at him. Half covering his eyes with the crook of his arm, Natsu stepped towards the girl.

"No, no, you've got it all wrong, I was just getting the sun-" Lucy got him in the face with the bedside telephone. His body tensed involuntarily, and the poor bottle all but burst from the force of Natsu's grip.

"…Screen…" Most of it got on Lucy.

"Natsu!"

"Uh oh…"

She charged at him, teethed bared. Natsu thought she resembled a bull as her attempts at modesty were thrown out the window and replaced with a lust for his blood.

Unfortunately, Lucy slipped on the spilled sunscreen and was hurled towards Natsu. He dropped the bottle, falling back onto the bed from the force of Lucy's push. She fell with him, and they got tangled up in the bed sheets trying to escape each other. Avoiding Lucy's body was impossible now as far as he was concerned.

"Argh- I knew you were kind of pervy, Natsu, but I didn't peg you for a peeper!" She was whispering extremely close to his face which made this situation all the more terrifying. He scowled, gripping her arms. She jerked away from his grasp, but he held her fast.

"I wasn't peeping- I just wanted to get the stupid sunscreen!" He groaned. The two locked eyes then, twin blushes blooming again on their already red faces.

"O-Okay, I believe you…"

…

"Lucy, g-get off me, wouldja?"

She squeaked, obviously aware of her own nudity once again, but it seemed as though the universe was working against them that day. The slippery sunscreen and sheer fabric of the smooth sheets gave them zero leverage, and Lucy kept accidentally slipping and smashing her breasts onto his bare chest. Too close, she was too close. He could feel her breathe on his neck.

"Nngh…" Natsu bit his lip, furiously trying to untangle himself from the infinite sheets around him before Lucy could boob-smash him again.

"Ah, almost there! Natsu, uh, move this way a little!" She told him, and then in a whisper, "A-And stop looking at me like that…"

A door slammed a second before they got untangled- And really, they couldn't have been tangled for more than ten seconds, but it felt like forever.

"What was that?" Lucy asked, discretely covering herself with one of the (demon) sheets. Natsu shrugged, and the room went silent, Natsu and Lucy sitting on either ends of the bed, facing away from each other.

"So… Do you have a spare bottle of sunscreen?"

…

"Wendy, calm down, what's the problem?" Erza asked the pale little girl, crouching down to her level.

"I-I went to go check up on what Lucy-san was doing, b-but Natsu-san was there-"

"What, were her and Flame-brain cracking the walls in there?" Gray asked nonchalantly. Wendy went red.

"Waaaaaaaah!" She shrieked, covering her hands in her face.

"…Wendy, you can't mean you saw…" Erza couldn't finish. Wendy was poor girl.

"I-I don't know! The bed was moving and they were naked and touching and-and they were saying things and there was white stuff _everywhere_!"

Gray burst into laughter, rolling around in the sand while Erza blanched. She pulled Wendy to her chest, attempting to comfort the girl with force.

"Tha-That was nothing, Wendy! I'm sure Natsu and Lucy had a good reason for doing… Whatever it is they were doing." She said, awkwardly patting the girl's head. Wendy didn't look convinced.

"Ah, damn- this is too much! There's no way! No way!" Gray chortled, finally getting up.

"Gray!" Erza snapped.

"Look!There's the sexpot now!" Gray shouted as the team turned, watching Natsu exit the bath house looking noticeably more frumpled than earlier.

"Hey guys! Whoa, what happened to Wendy?" Natsu asked, running a hand through his hair. Erza glared daggers at him.

"Where is Lucy?" She asked sternly. Gray clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Congrats, Natsu! You're lucky- Lucy's a real catch!"

"Wha-?" Natsu started, shaking off Gray's weird congratulations. "Well, actually, Lucy is washing up. We kindahad an incident, and she got a little messy- but it's all good now!" He grinned, hoping with all his might that Erza had forgotten about the sunscreen.

Natsu's three teammates stared at him, muttering in horror. Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Messy…?!"

"Sh-Shameless…"

"Didn't think he really had it in 'im…" Gray got strangely upset then, but Natsu thought he looked a little traumatized.

"I can't believe this happened!" He shouted, kicking the sand. Natsu cocked his head, putting his hands on his hips.

"Why? It's not a big deal- happens all the time, actually." Why were his teammates so riled up about him seeing Lucy naked? It had to happen at least twice a week.

Erza yelped and covered Wendy's ears. Gray leaned in close to Natsu's head.

"S-So, how was she?"

"Gray!" Erza slapped him.

"Huh?" Natsu blushed. "Fine I guess… I mean, it's happened so many times. I've kind of gotten used to it."

"Wait, so it really does end up getting boring?" Erza said, genuinely worried for a moment.

"Well, that doesn't make sense. I mean- this is Lucy we're talking about…"

"Wendy, cover your ears! You don't need to listen to this!" Charla spoke, rushing out from the water to comfort Wendy. Wendy fell to her knees, utterly wrecked from confusion.

"You guys are being weird…"

Natsu absently scratched the back of his head, spotting Lucy exiting the beach house. Immediately reminded of her naked body under that swimsuit, Natsu decided that a swim in the ocean looked much more appealing than hanging around his oddly addled friends.

"Hey, you guys!" She waved. The three jolted in unison, and Gray started coughing harshly until Erza swatted him. The two rushed Lucy, all but tackling her to the ground in their enthusiasm.

"Whoa, what's up?" Lucy said, staring perplexedly at her strikingly pale friends.

"L-Lucy, I don't know how you two have kept this a secret so long, but congratulations!" He said, ruffling her hair. Lucy playfully knocked his hand away. Gray could be such the big brother type- but why the congratulations?

"I-I would also like to con-congratulate you." Erza said weakly with a deep bow. "I hope you and Natsu are very happy together!"

"What're you talking about?!" Lucy exclaimed, desparetly trying to straighten Erza's rigid bowing formation.

"Never mind that," Gray interrupted, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Is he treating you right?"

"You guys!" She stomped her foot angrily, finally gaining the attention of the two. "I have _no _idea what you're talking about or what it has to do with Natsu!"

There was a beat of silence.

Erza and Gray exchanged the same look of recognition.

"But then… What did Wendy see you two doing?" Erza murmured. Lucy blushed, clapping her hands on her flushed cheeks.

"She saw that?! Oh god- it wasn't what it looked like! I swear!" She said, frantically waving her arms. Erza heaved a sigh of relief.

"So to be perfectly clear… you two _did not _just have sex in there?"

"Of course not- what did Natsu tell you?!"

The trio looked over to the beach front, Natsu throwing Happy up in the air and letting him splash harshly in the water before retrieving him to be thrown again. It seemed painful, but they looked like they were having. They starkly contrasted Wendy and Charla who were floating placidly around the water's surface and watching the boys. "He was going on and on about how you guys do it all the time! That smug bastard!" Gray shook his fist angrily atNatsu who didn't pay him any attention at all.

"Why would Natsu lie like that?" Lucy asked no one in particular. It seemed unlike him to lie, and even less like him to lie about sex…

"You should totally get him back, Lucy!" Gray told her. She took a step back.

"Wha…?"

"I agree, Lucy. Revenge is usually never the solution, but Natsu deserves some punishment…" Erza muttered, practically fuming. Lucy shrank away in terror from the red-headed woman, but then again, it wasn't really revenge- more like playing a prank using Natsu's own stupidity.

…That stupid, stupid boy! Were they really not as close as Lucy thought they were,or had Natsu always been so idiotic, and she just let herself get used to it? Lucy fumed.

"Well, fine! He thinks he can talk himself up… He'll be so embarrassed to see me playing along with his dumb act- he'll come clean in a heartbeat!"

"Well, fine! He thinks he can talk himself up… He'll be so embarrassed to see me playing along with his dumb act- he'll come clean in a heartbeat!"

"Yeah, Lucy! Call 'im on his bullshit! Embarrass the hell out of him!" Gray cheered her on. Lucy felt her blood boil, and a devious smile came to her lips as her eyes narrowed on one pink haired boy.

"Wish me luck~" She winked at her friends, and then put on her most dazzling smile.

"Natsu!" She called sweetly, running to him from the beach and into the water, tackling him with a hug. They both went under, and Natsu resurfaced with a confused look on his face directed at the girl hanging onto him.

"Oh, Natsu! Wasn't our little moment in the beach house just _wonderful_?" She spoke loudly, her voice dripping with sweetness. She heard Gray laugh from somewhere behind her.

"Wh-What?" He stuttered, trying to peel himself away from her. Lucy almost frowned.

"Don't be coy! I know how you love to be gentle with me~!" She started tracing around his chest with her fingernail, making him shudder.

"Sure, sure." He scowled, detaching himself from her and stomping back to shore. Lucy did frown this time. Something was wrong wasn't acting like someone trying to cover up a was just confused…

Why wasn't he responding correctly to her advances? Perhaps it was just guilt driving him now. Lucy shook her head, racing after him and grabbing his hand.

"L-Lucy?!"

"Here, let's sit down." Lucy commanded, making them both take a seat in the sand.

"Wendy, could we borrow your tanning lotion?" She hollered towards the rest of her team. Wendy jumped to her feet, smiling sheepishly- the older kids had probably let her in on the prank.

"Here you go, Lucy-san."

"Thanks, Wendy!" She beamed, turning to Natsu with the most lustful eyes she could muster. She started lathering up her arms, chest, and stomach in the cool oils. Natsu gawked, and if Lucy hadn't been trying to get back at him, she would've laughed at his expression. A brilliant idea came to mind at that.

"Natsu, would you mind getting my back?" The girl asked, turning around and moving her hair over her shoulder.

"Uh, yeah." He answered back as she placed the bottle in his open palm. That's normal, she thought. Natsu would agree to lotion her back for her on any other day- friends do that- so she decided to step it up just a little.

Reaching around her back, Lucy pulled a string to untie the measly bikini top that she was wearing and held the cups in place with her hands. After all,despite what one might think based on Gray's appearance, this wasn't a nudist beach. Natsu made a strangled noise, and Lucy looked over to her friend to see Erza giving her a shaky thumbs-up and Gray being inflicted with a nosebleed.

Letting out an involuntary sigh as Natsu touched her, Lucy forgot for a moment that she was supposed to be the one in charge here.

"Hah, Natsu…" She exhaled loudly, leaning into his hands. "You haven't touched me like this in a long time…" Being unable to look at him made it easier to say such naughty things. "Come on, I know you can be more rough than that."

"O-Okay…" He mumbled, putting more force behind his calloused palms. As this was turning into more of a massage (and Natsu's hands were dipping in places that made her shiver) she had to think on her feet of what they had to do next. Natsu didn't nearly look ready to crack.

Like a sign from heaven, Natsu's stomach rumbled.

"I'm hungry…" He said dejectedly. "Couldn't get breakfast 'cause we had to catch the early train."

Lucy might have felt bad for him, but he was always whining about hunger. Some few yards away there was a tiny beachside café. They had avoided it earlier because it was a tourist's watering hole- but now it was necessary.

"C'mon, Natsu. Let's get some food!" She tied back up her swimsuit and grabbed his hand, walking at a slow pace. Really, Natsu would willingly wander around to get food anyway, so she didn't need to rush him to this spot.

"How about a Pina Colada?A nice drink for the beach, yeah?" She winked, nudging his arm with her elbow. He puffed his cheeks out at her.

"I don't want a girly drink!" He whined. Thinking fast, Lucy batted her eyelashes at the boy.

"Would you be interested in _sharing _one then?" Speaking slowly, the girl trailed her fingers lovingly down his bicep. His eyes flickered from her face to her hand and to her face again, looking utterly befuddled.

"Why?" He asked, the confusion in his voice tangible. Lucy was about to come up with believable comeback, but she was interrupted by a figure looming over here.

"Yo, I'll take you up on that offer if he won't." The man leaning over her shoulder said. He was young- their age probably-and guessing by the whistle and bright red swimming trunks, she guessed he was a lifeguard.

"Oh, uh…" She was eyeing her shamelessly, an awful smirk on his wolfish face. Lucy's skin crawled. Alerted by the whoosh of flames next to her, Lucy realized that Natsu had stood up. The lifeguard stood much taller than him, but he couldn't hold a candle to Natsu's hard-earned muscles.

"I don't think so, creep." Natsu spat, holding an enflamed fist under the other boy's chin- who paled at the fire mage's fury.

"Wh-Whoa man, I was just kidding around! I didn't realize you two were the famous Fairy couple!"

That comment gave him just enough time to escape Natsu's wrath and wave his trembling hands in self-defense. Natsu paused for a second, and Lucy held her breath, wondering if Natsu was still going to punch this guy's lights out.

"Whatever, I don't care about that. Just don't look at her like that again." He said, dropping his fist. The guy nodded gratefully and skittered off somewhere. Her hero plopped down in his seat again, sitting noticeably, almost protectively, closer to her.

It worried Lucy that he wouldn't acknowledge the 'famous couple' thing. Did that mean he'd heard it before- or was Natsu just too mad to deal with outrageous rumors? Then again, maybe he didn't want to deny to. He apparently enjoyed talking himself up after all.

"Thank you, Natsu." She said solemnly. A hand slid under her bangs to plant itself on her forehead. Lucy looked to its owner, Natsu. He was staring at her with such concern in those big, green eyes of his.

"Lucy, you've been acting you feeling okay?"

Her face screwed up with embarrassment, and she hastily took his hand away from her head.

"No, no, I'm fine… Really…" She told him softly, her cheeks coloring as she realized that she'd folded his hand in hers, but she didn't make any move to remove it.

He made a noise of discontent, not backing down as he stared at her.

Frozen in her seat, Lucy could only look back. How often had she peered into his dark eyes like this and became completely enthralled? How hadn't she noticed the golden flecks there that reflected the sun so enchantingly? God, he was nice to look at…

_He's so sweet… There's no way he could be acting…_

He blinked.

"Uh, so, you wanna help me destroy some of Gray's ice sculptures?" Smiling, he waited for her answer. It took her a minute, but she nodded, returning the smile in earnest.

Parting their hands was a different matter though- because as she slipped his hand away from hers, a shadow of sadness flickered over his face,but it was gone in a flash. In a way she knew that neither of them really wanted to let go, but some unspoken rule of friendship demanded that they must.

While Natsu ran off and fire-kicked a couple of Gray's sculptures, Erza yanked her to a spot on her beach towel with Wendy crouching next to her.

"E-Erza?" She squawked as the scarlet maiden put a finger to her lips. Out of ear range, Gray and Natsu were fighting about Natsu's ice destroying habits.

"Listen, Lucy. You need to step up your fighting tactics."

"Wha?"

"Lucy-san, what Erza-san is trying to say is: you must be more convincing if you want Natsu to confess his lies!" Wendy piped up. Lucy'd never seen her so pumped to be pulling a prank.

"I-I don't know, you guys…" She blushed, looking over to her favorite boy as he spat flames at Gray. "I'm not sure if I can keep this up. I'm running out of moves- and besides… I'm not sure if he's acting anymore…"

Erza scoffed, taking hold of Lucy's chin and forcing the girl to meet her eye.

"Natsu can be extremely sneaky when he puts his mind to it, and if Natsu can put on an act, then so can you!"

Being hastily pushed, Lucy stumbled towards Natsu, landing heavily in his arms as if scripted. Her cheeks burned. His strong arms kept her steady as he grinned down at her.

"Yo, Lucy, did you see me knock down Gray's ice stuff?" How did he have the energy to be so charismatic all the time?

"Y-Yeah," Lucy half-smiled, glancing back at her team who was cheering her on in the background. She took in a deep breath before turning back to the boy.

"Have you always been so _strong _Natsu~" She purred, more mindful now of the act she was putting on as she groped his bicep. His blush was immediate, eyebrows raising in genuine surprise.

"Oh, well, yeah. I train a lot." He said dumbly, not sure what to do with the girl doting on him so unexpectedly.

"I know that, silly!" Giggling cutely, Lucy ran her hand down his bare chest and back up again. He gulped audibly. And to her dismay, he started to tug himself away from her. That wasn't very surprising, granted, because she had never shown him so much outward affection before.

It only occurred to her then that she might be scaring him… But Lucy quickly shoved that thought away.

She didn't say anything else, only taking a moment to glance at her team that was huddled together- probably plotting something. Spotting a nearby changing house, Lucy grabbed Natsu's wrist and lead him inside a stall area and hastily whisked the curtain shut before slamming the befuddled boy in front of her against the wall.

"How about round two, Natsu?" She purred, pressing the entirety on her body onto his. Admittedly, it felt good being in this position- with his warm body pressing into hers- but she tried not to take too much pleasure in it.

"Lucy, I don't-" He protested. Lucy scowled- she knew wasn't the best actress, but Natsu shouldn't be reacting how he was if he was trying to put on a show…

And in Lucy's mind, that meant that she had to ramp up the sexual attraction.

Snaking her arms around his broad shoulders, Lucy took to grinding her pelvis against his groin very _very_slowly. Unexpected jolts of pleasure shot through her body, stilling her for a moment as Natsu gasped. He looked at her with wide, bewildered eyes, his mouth hanging open dumbly. The boy took advantage of her pause, grabbing her arms and politely shoving her away.

"The hell, Lucy?What's gotten into you?!" He spat out. The gravity of what she'ddone toppled on her then. She'd taken it too far- hell, she'd just tried to jump her partner's bones in a changing room! But no, she wasn't about to go down without a fight! He was probably just acting different now because they were alone…

"Ah, c'mon, you know exactly what I want…" The sultry flavor of her voice surprised even her.

"A hospital?!A nap?!" He sputtered, his back hitting the wall as she advanced towards him again. Pinning him more easily than she thought she could, Lucy roughly cupped his face with her hands, feeling a rush of energy that came from doing something so risky with her nakama.

"Kiss me!" She demanded. Natsublanked, a bead of sweat trailing down his forehead before his face twisted into a tremendous scowl.

"Quit toying with me, Lucy! This isn't okay!"

That was the last straw. Lucy's blood boiled thick under her skin as she stepped away from the boy.

"So it's okay for you to talk yourself up at my expense, but as soon as I call you out on it, you get all defensive?" She crossed her arms with a huff and resisted the urge to stomp her foot. "I can't believe you, Natsu! You're such an ass!"

"Me?!" Was it just her imagination, or did he look a little… hurt? "What are you talking about?!"

"You know very well what I'm talking about!" She stood up a little straighter. "You told the others that we were having sex in the beach house!You said it was messy and that we did it all the time!" Her vision started to blur, and she blinked back angry tears.

"What the- I did not!"

"Oh, don't deny it!" She bit off each word and scrubbed away the insubordinate tears that escaped her eyes. There- she saw it for sure this time- Natsu's face had softened just the slightest.

"Is that what you thought?! No, no, Lucy- I told them that I walked in on you and that it was messy because sunscreen got everywhere!"

…

Oh.

"W-Wait, so you weren't telling Erza, Gray, and Wendy that we had sex in the beach house…?" She stuttered, hugging herself tightly. The truth had hit her like a ton of bricks, and man, it packed a punch.

"That's what they were talking about?! I had no idea!" He tugged on his hair comically, and Lucy deadpanned.

"…I-I see. It was all a misunderstanding." She blushed, catching his dark eyes before averting her own to the floor. "Sorry about, you know… t-touching you and all that- I kind of wanted to pay you back for spreading rumors-"

"Rumors? Jeez, Lucy, I wouldn't spread rumors about you." He meant it in a heartfelt way, of course, because she was his friend and he didn't spread rumors about his friends. Lucy, however, didn't see it that way. Her eyes narrowed on the clueless boy.

"Oh, so I'm not good enough to be having pretend sex with you?" She said, placing her fists on her hips and sauntering out of the changing room. Natsu squawked and hurried after her.

"That's not- I mean- I wouldn't do that because we're friends! And you're… You're Lucy!" Flustered, he gestured widely to the girl.

"Someone like you falling for me, well, it's a little farfetched…Dontcha think?" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, and Lucy was taken aback for a moment, the day's exhausting events running through her head. The thrilling rush of excitement flowed through her again. Lucy wasn't thinking- quite evidenced by the smooth, daring kiss she placed on her partner's red cheek. He deserved it, she thought, after all the unnecessary stress he'd gone through today.

That, and she just really wanted to kiss him.

Lucy giggled as Natsu's head snapped back up to face her straight on, an expression of pure disbelief etched there. He slapped his hand onto his cheek and used the other to point weakly at her.

"But- But…"

He muttered before his eyes rolled, and he fell unceremoniously to the ground, completely out cold with the goofiest smile on his face. Lucy crouched down before him, flipping a lock of pink hair out of his reddened face as a satisfied smile came to her lips.

"No buts- And don't go thinking I'm so out of your league next time… Natsu." His name was sweetness on her lips, real affection beginning to bubble in her chest. She couldn't help the rapid beating of her heart now, and she wasn't sure if she really wanted to.

Content, Lucy stood up and swayed proudly away from the changing house…

… Only to find her team staring blankly at her with matching blushes. Gray growled pitifully.

"Er, Lucy…"

Groups of people had meandered down the beach and were now whispering to themselves behind raised hands.

"Was that the Salamander and Lucy Heartfilia?"

"They just kissed! So cute~"

"I wasn't sure if they were a couple, but I guess it's obvious!"

Lucy felt a bead of sweat drop down her face, the girl falling to the sand on her knees in despair. Happy ran up to her, plopping himself in her lap.

"Boy, Lucy, if you were worried about rumors before, you'd better be worried about 'em now!"


End file.
